Will's arrival into this world began a full day and a half before he took his first breath. On Monday, June 29th, I woke up at 4:30 AM with some contractions that were "different." I'd been contracting throughout the entire pregnancy, but these were out of the ordinary. I couldn't go back to sleep and they were spaced about 10-12 minutes apart. Plus, they were more intense than normal. I went about my day, paying attention to the intensity and frequency. The weird thing was, they weren't getting closer together. Hmmmm. Was this real? Or was it another disappointing bout of strong Braxton Hicks?
Luckily, my mother in law came over to help with Addison, so I was able to get a few things done, and take it easy if need be. In the late morning, the contractions were still coming, but not any closer together. I wondered if I could speed things up by going for a foot massage at this new reflexology place in Kirkland. My mom came and picked me up to take me, because I was at the point where the intensity of the contractions were taking my breath away, and driving didn't sound like a good idea. The massage was FABULOUS, I would highly recommend it to anyone! $25 for a 60 minute foot massage (plus shoulders, head, back) you can't beat that anywhere!
Chris was at work, so I told him that I would call if I felt things were progressing and it was the real thing. Around 2:00, I knew that it was real. I called him, and he flew home...I couldn't believe how fast he got home!
I had been consulting our Doula (Sharon) the entire time, and at this point, she was wondering if the baby's position was hindering him from allowing me to progress. She gave me a "circuit" of positions (yoga-like) to go through that might help him drop further into my pelvis. Oh my goodness, this did the trick! I went from being able to talk through the contractions, to complete paralyzation and unable to focus on anything besides the PAIN! The contractions went from 10-12 min. apart, to 7 minutes apart, within an hour. Pretty soon we were looking at 5 min. apart, and it was time to head to Evergreen! The Doulas (Sharon had an apprentice attending our birth with her, her name is Carol) were called, Grandmas were in charge of Addison, and we were having a baby!
When we arrived at Evergreen, they checked my cervix and I was 3 cm. dilated. They said that they normally don't check people in at this point, but since I was high risk, they would check me in if I wanted, or I could go walk for an hour or two and come back later. We decided to WALK. It was a gorgeous night (this was around 7 pm) so we walked around the front entrance area of Evergreen. The funniest part was a labor and delivery class just released while I was out walking, and the looks they gave us while I was contracting were HILARIOUS! I didn't see them, obviously...I was in my own world, but Chris said they looked terrified!
After 2 hours of walking, we went back in to be checked, and I had only dilated to 3 1/2. At this point, I really wanted to get the labor tub set up, and to sit in the water. We still had to call the tub people and get that rolling! It seemed like an eternity, but the tub arrived, we were given a room, and things were moving forward.
While we were waiting for the tub, I was trying to get into some comfortable positions to labor (birth ball, hands and knees, leaning on the bed, etc) and I just couldn't get comfy. However, once I sat down in the tub and floated, OH MY. Of course the pain didn't go away, but the warm water relaxed me and allowed me to focus through the contractions. Chris, my mom, and the Doulas (plus 2 Evergreen nurses) were there to help me as well. What a team! After laboring in the tub for a couple of hours, the nurse checked me and I was 5 cm. dilated. Things were moving forward! However, I wasn't sure how much longer I could take it. At one point, I asked what time it was, thinking it was maybe midnight....and it was 2 AM! What? Where did the time go? I continued in the tub, trying to get through "just one more contraction" and I got to the point where they were right on top of each other, without any breaks and I was losing it. We had a code word for "Epidural" and if I said it, it meant that I really wanted it, and I serious. Finally, around 3 AM, I screamed the code word (Maui) and the Doulas really tried to talk me out of it. "Just one more Anna, you can do it! Look how far you've come! You're almost there!" No, I didn't feel like I was "almost there." I hadn't been checked for awhile, but in my mind, I was still 5 cm. and I couldn't imagine it getting worse, and I knew it would. Finally, the anesthesiologist was called in, and I was given an epidural. WHEW. I was very conflicted at the time, feeling like I had given up and failed at my unmedicated birth attempt. But I was reminded that it was my decision, and I knew my body, and no one was judging me. I was checked again right after they put in the epidural, and I was 7 cm.....so I had progressed that far on my own, and that's not an easy feat! I was so pleased that I made it that far, because epidurals really slow things down and when things slow down, it increases the chance for C-section.
After the epidural was inserted (it took a couple of tries because I wasn't sitting properly, most likely compensating for the contractions I was having!) I was a different person. Oh my goodness, the relief! By then it was 4:00 AM, and we turned off the lights and everyone took a nap. I tried to nap, but each time I would doze off, my blood pressure was taken, or I would feel the contraction pressure.
At 6:00 AM, Dr. Russell came in to check on me, she was going off call at 7:00. We decided to have her break my water at that point, as I was a "stretchy 9" as she called it! Dr. Stemmerman was coming on at 7:00 AM, so I would be ready to push by then, most likely.
As it turned out, Dr. Stemmerman had a C-Section to deliver at 7, so we had to wait for her to finish before she could deliver us!
I started pushing at 8:00 ish. The Dr. came in at 8:30, checked to make sure we were on track, and said to call her when it was "time" meaning head is crowning and time for her to catch the baby! The pushing started off being pretty bearable, since the epidural was working and I could feel the pressure of each contraction, so I knew when to push. I was making slow progress. After about an hour into it, still no huge progress. I was moving the baby, but not as much as I should have with the amount of hard pushing. We tried some different positions, and luckily my epidural didn't numb my legs completely, so I could get up on the bed and squat. The squatting was what did the trick. I was able to move Will down, into position. Gravity was what we needed! The other thing that helped was more of a psychological motivator. The nurse mentioned to me that she thought a little Pitocen would help to get things moving. I said absolutely NO! First off, Pitocen is almost never used with VBAC patients because it's such a strong synthetic hormone, and it gets contractions going sometimes TOO hard. Which can lead to uterine rupture, which is the biggest risk when going for a VBAC. Secondly, even in non-VBAC patients, Pitocen can lead to fetal distress because of the strong contractions, which can lead to a C-Section. So I was NOT going to have Pitocen. I made this very clear, and everyone understood, and that was that! Will was coming out on his own, without the help of Pitocen, and I was going to make sure of it!
In the meantime, I started feeling some of the contraction pain throughout my right hip and into my lower uterus. I've heard that having "windows of pain" is normal, but this was getting bad. When I was holding onto the bar and squatting, the Doula had Chris get up on the bed with me from behind, to support me when I wasn't having a contraction. During the process of getting on the bed (remember, hospital beds are tiny and not made for two!) he was getting tangled up in the many cords that were attached to me. As he was untangling himself, he noticed one of the cords was dripping medication all over his hand. He motioned for the nurse (without me knowing) and they each gave each other a look of "OH NO!" Yes, it was the epidural cord. I was in so much pain at that point, I wanted them to turn up the epidural. They obliged, but did so knowing that it was only going to potentially have the placebo effect on me because no medication was getting into my system! They frantically called the anesthesiologist, who suddenly appeared and started fiddling with the machine and cords. At that point, it was too late. Baby was coming, and Dr. Stemmerman was called, and it was time to meet our little boy. They had me move from the squat (which was most comfortable, if you can call it that!) to my back, which seemed like absolute torture. I DID NOT want to push from that position. Apparently I screamed that I couldn't do it, and the Doula grabbed my face, stared me in the eyes and said "YES YOU CAN, ANNA! YOU HAVE TO DO IT!" I think I pushed maybe 3 more times, and eventually had to hold it because the Dr. wasn't ready, and it helps to prevent tearing when you slow down at the end. Finally I got the go ahead to PUSH and Chris was the one who caught our precious bundle...he shot out of me like a bolt of lightening! There was no time to suction him, and slowly pull him out, which is the case most times! He had other plans! Chris pulled him out, and put him on my belly...it was the most amazing thing I've ever experienced. Will was screaming, and it was such a beautiful sound! Our baby boy was here!
William David JarossJune 30, 200911:11 AM7 lbs 0 oz20 3/4 inches
